Los Alamos Police Commander Randy Foster. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.comPolice charged two Los Alamos High School boys at noon, Jan. 16 with aggravated assault and conspiracy.
Los Alamos Police Commander Randy Foster explained that the charges against the 14-year-old and 15-year-old Los Alamos boys stem from a report by the parents of another local teenager who they say was the victim of an aggravated assault posted on Facebook.
The alleged victim’s mother told police that she had viewed a video posting on Facebook that showed a juvenile pointing a gun at her son.
In the report, the mother said that she was certain the gun pointed at her son was a real gun and “it was a very alarming video to view of her son having a gun pointed at him.”
The father of the victim agreed, saying in the report that he was certain when he viewed the video that “some kid was pointing a real gun at his son and another juvenile had recorded the incident and now it was on Facebook.”
Police questioned the 15-year-old victim who said one of the teens had pulled out a gun, adding that he knew it was a real gun and he thought it was a 9 millimeter handgun.
“In this case the gun turned out to be a realistic looking black BB pistol but that doesn’t matter when it’s presented as a real gun … it is treated in the same manner as a real gun and the charges will be the same,” Foster said.
The victim told police that he did not know why the other boy pointed the gun at him and told him that he needed to “kiss his shoe.”
The victim said he tried to stay calm but that he was “real scared.” He also told police the second teen was present and recording when the gun was pointed at him.
He said when he was able, he ran out of the residence on Seminole Street because he was so scared. He said he then ran away from the neighborhood, adding that he didn’t call the police because he was scared and embarrassed about what happened.
He said he heard from other people that the video of him having the gun pointed at him was posted on Facebook.
The two teens charged in this crime were referred to the Juvenile Probation Officer.
Los Alamos Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gene Schmidt told the Los Alamos Daily Post this morning that he could not comment on the discipline administered to the students charged in this reported assault.
“What I can comment on is school protocol. When events happen off our school site we try very hard not to let them come on to our site, but when they do, the school responds in the appropriate fashion,” Schmidt said. “That includes administering the appropriate discipline as well as developing safety plans for those involved. It’s important for the community to know that Principal Sandra Warnock and her staff work very actively to ensure that every student at the high school is safe.”
